I am planning on starting a ninjutsu class within the next few weeks.I stopped by the dojo and watched one of the classes to find out that the style relied on a lot of ukemi(rolls,falls,etc.). Since i am the type of person who ends up getting hurt every time i try a basic somersault,I was wondering if anyone experienced in ukemi,ninjutsu,or even gymnastics could give me some exercises or drills to do so i can get accustomed to rolls and ukemi. Also i would appreciate it if anyone could give me some tips to getting physically ready for ninjutsu.Thank you very much.

Unfortunately there is no easy way to tell someone how to take ukemi over the internet. I can tell you that the rolls we do use move diagonally across the spine (Shoulder to hip or hip to shoulder) as opposed to directly over your head as in a summersault, which can damage your neck if done improperly.

Don't be overly concerned though, I'm sure if you ask, someone will be more than happy to show you.

As far as getting ready physically, stretch a lot but safely. There isn't really a need to do push ups or leg lifts, etc. unless the dojo you attend has that as a requirement (some do, not all).

Tengu51,thanks for the posts. I have another question,do you the history of the ninja. Were they just heartless assasins who would take any job just for money or did they fight with honor similar to that of a samurai. The people at my dojo seem to beleive that ninja were warriors just like samurai only with a combat system that was completely opposite than that of the samurai.

Well, I'm anything but a historian, and there is some difficulty and heated debate over the origin of ninjutsu with historians of other martial arts, but I'll do my best.

Basically, ninja were more were more along the lines of a spy or espionage agent. They would gather and collect information that could help their particular side and in some cases manipulate the plans of the opposing force through varied strategies.

I've been told that all the sneaking around stuff was more of a last resort option. The point being that you don't really need to go into battle if you can disrupt the enemy enough that he is unable to do so.

In many cases the ninja worked for samurai, or some samurai were trained in ninja skills.

The specific classification of what makes a person a ninja is that they were trained in 18 fundamental skills (I'm pretty sure called the Ninja Juhappan.) I can't remember all the skills off of the top of my head, but some include:

the floor must become your friend... when you roll don't hold your breath or else you will hurt yourself.. you must be relaxed the whole time... pretty soon you wont think twice about it and people will see you rolling to your car across the street [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG]

From what I have read and been told the old attage, if you can't beat em join them fell true to the Samurai and Ninja. The Samurai became very fustrated with the Ninja fighting technique and gorilla tattics so at one point in time one of the Shogans offered some kind of amnisty to the Ninjas to join with the different Samurai clans. In turn the Ninja were basically dissolved, very smart tactical move by the Shogan. This information came from the Dicovery special.